10/06/2026
His grandmother called every single day, did we have space for her grandson yet? She was desperate.
To be completely honest, it was annoying, persistent, every day we told her no. At any given time at Bethel, we have a waiting list of at least 30 kids, waiting for a space to open up. If we could, we would take every single case, but I’ve learned that as much as I want to help every one, I have to protect our kids first and foremost. There is a process, we have an interview, I spend days in prayer over the decision, and we have a trial period before we get full custody of the children. There are other factors too, the government regulations, the number of caregivers we have, school availability, etc, so unless it’s an emergency situation, we try to wait until semesters are over.
But this lady wouldn’t give up and after a week of calls and texts, I finally scheduled them to come visit the orphanage.
The first thing I noticed were the bruises on his face. He had a fading black eye and some bruising around his jaw line. The teenage boy’s eyes were glued to the ground, his shoulders hunched defeatedly, as if life had already beaten him down at 14 years old. The grandmother and her husband (not the biological grandfather) kept shooting him annoyed glances and I heard her tell him to hurry up under her breath.
I sat them down in my office, pulling out my questionnaire, but I was distracted, something was off here. The boy, stood behind them as they began to tell me his story.
At three years old, his mother dropped him off at children’s home in a neighboring city, along with his three sisters. They eventually moved them around as the homes would close or they aged out of that particular home.
Last year, mom got remarried and decided she wanted to bring her kids to live with her new family, apparently it wasn’t sitting well with her new husband’s family that she had left her kids at a home and she wanted so save face. So they moved back to Juarez with a woman they barely knew. Eventually, the stress of four teenagers because too much of a strain on her new marriage, so she packed their bags and dropped them off at their grandmother’s, saying it would just be for the weekend. She never returned.
Other family members took in the girls, but no one wanted the boy.
“He’s just too dumb. He can’t learn, he doesn’t speak right, there’s something wrong with his brain.” The step grandfather started to tell me. “He is lazy, he doesn’t listen, he’s a burden.”
The man, reeking of alcohol, leans back in his chair, throwing a disgusted look over his shoulder at the teenager. The boy keeps his head down, shoulders dropping even more, as if trying to shrink himself as much as possible.
He’s tall, painfully skinny, hair haphazardly cut, clothes worn, holes in the jeans and sneakers torn. He has no bag with him, no belongings, just what he has on.
My heart begins to hurt for him.
“When I married her,” the man nods over at his wife, “I didn’t sign up to have to provide for a mouthy teenager too. I’m too old to be teaching lessons to boys like him.”
I feel a deep rage start to fill my chest.
“Are those bruises from your lessons?” I try to keep my voice steady and quiet, non threatening.
The man goes still, straightening up in his seat.
Before he can get a word out, his wife interjects, “Oh, Daniel is so aggressive, my husband was just defending himself.”
I’d heard enough.
I abruptly stand up, startling them both.
“We’ll take him.” I say, leaving no room for argument.
The grandmother claps her hands together happily; the man looks relieved.
I want to punch them both in the face. But I don’t. Just know that I wanted to, in my humanity and flesh, I wanted to kick them in the shins and throw them out.
They sign the papers. She tells Daniel to behave, doesn’t hug him, doesn’t tell him goodbye, just gives him a short pat on the shoulder and walks out. The man doesn’t even spare him a glance as he leaves the office.
I’m left alone with him now and I can feel the nervous energy radiating off of him.
“Welcome home, Daniel.” I say quietly and give him a smile. His eyes finally meet mine and we don’t speak for a few moments, then he takes a deep breath and lets it out, as if he is finally able to breathe again.
It’s been almost two months since Daniel got to the orphanage and he has blossomed. He is full of joy, constantly smiling and always bubbly. He is in eighth grade and although he struggles with reading and math, he is catching up quick and loves school, he was just never given a proper chance to learn and is now soaking everything up. He’s a hard worker and is always wanting to help. We are working on his self esteem and helping him learn that he doesn’t have to earn his stay here, God loves him unconditionally, he is seen, valued, and he is safe.
The other boys welcomed him with open arms, immediately taking him under their wings at school and he is a happy.
I’m so humbled and grateful that we are able to be a part of his story and be a safe place for him, I’m thankful for your love and support because we certainly can’t do this alone.
Right now, these are our current needs at Bethel!
We are needing items from our amazon list below
https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/3IJA3P9KJKZPL?ref_=cm_sw_r_mwn_ggr-subnav-share_BB8LEFJB5607QLHDT8EP&language=en-US
We have one kiddo graduating kindergarten, three sixth grade, two ninth grade, and one high schooler and the graduation fees are overwhelming! Right now, the cost for each graduate is about $300. If you would like to sponsor any of our kids, with whatever amount, we would be so thankful! I’ll post below the ways to give.
Paypal or zelle - [email protected]
Cash app - $bethelGOH
Venmo - -orphanage
Thank yall so much for being a part of our family and always being so generous!
And thank to those who have already donated and purchased!!
Love yall!
